Capping machine and method

ABSTRACT

A capping machine is provided which includes a rotatable turret with outwardly open vertical slots around its perimeter and a plurality of spindles secured in the slots for applying swage-on closures to containers wherein such swage-on spindles can be easily removed and replaced by spindles for applying roll-on closures. The turret includes two cams, with the upper cam being adapted to vertically reciprocate either swage-on spindles or roll-on spindles, and the lower cam being adapted to move rollers on spinning headsets on roll-on spindles against the skirts of closures on containers, and further includes drive means adapted to rotate such spinning headsets to roll threads in closures&#39;&#39; skirts, wherein such drive means is in non-obstructing position with respect to swage-on spindles when they are mounted in the turret. A method is also provided for applying swage-on closures to containers by means of such a machine.

United States Patent 1191 Over et al.

1451 Sept. 25, 1973 CAPPING MACHINE AND METHOD [73] Assignee: AluminumCompany of America, Pittsburgh, Pa.

22 Filed: Mar. 1, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 119,466

[52] US. Cl 53/201, 53/331, 53/338 [51] Int. Cl B65b 7/28 [58] Field ofSearch 53/334, 338, 201,

Primary ExaminerTravis S. McGehee Assistant ExaminerHorace M. CulverAttorney-David W. Brownlee 5 7 ABSTRACT A capping machine is providedwhich includes a rotatable turret with outwardly open vertical slotsaround its perimeter and a plurality of spindles secured in the slotsfor applying swage-on closures to containers wherein such swage-onspindles can be easily removed and replaced by spindles for applyingroll-on closures. The

turret includes two cams, with the upper cam being adapted to verticallyreciprocate either swage-on spindles or roll-on spindles, and the lowercam being adapted to move rollers 0n spinning headsets on-roll-onspindles against the skirts of closures on containers, and furtherincludes drive means adapted to rotate such spinning headsets to rollthreads in closures skirts, wherein such drive means is innon-obstructing position with respect to swage-on spindles when they aremounted in the turret. A method is also provided for applying swage-onclosures to containers by means of such a machine.

1 Claim, 11 Drawing Figures United States Patent [1 1 [111 3, 60,561

Over et al. Sept. 25, 1973 PATENTED8EP25|975 3.780.561

' sum 1 or a FIG. n

INVENTORS.

AV/DJ. OVER,

WILL/A DE/VHART &

THOMAS J. MCKEE Al Iorney lNl EN TORS. DAV/D J. OVER, WILL/AM L.DEA/HART 8 THOMAS J. McKEE Attorney PATENTEU 3.760.561 I SHEET 8 0f 8lNVENTOR. AV/DJ.0

A IIII ney WILL/A ENHART8 THOMA .Mc/(EE FIG. /0.

SHEET 8 BF 8 PAIENIED SW25 I975 IN VENTORS. DA V/D J. OVER, WILLIAM L.DEA/HART 8 THOMAS J. Mc/(E E 9M 605M Attorney CAPPING MACHINE AND METHODBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Capping machines for applying roll-onclosures have been in use for many years wherein the skirt of a closurehas threads or other impressions formed in it by deformation of theskirt against a finish on a container mouth. One kind of roll-on cappingmachine or capper of relatively recent introduction comprises arotatable turret with outwardly open vertical slots in it and verticallymovable capping spindles in the slots wherein pressure blocks on thespindles apply top pressure against closures on containers to develop atop seal and/or a side seal, and thread rollers on the spindles moveagainst the closures skirts and rotate around the closures to formthreads in the skirts. Cappers for applying swage-on closures, such ascrown closures, have also been in use for many years comprising arotatable turret with vertically movable capping spindles and collets orcollars on the spindles which are moved downward against closures oncontainers to crimp the skirts of the closures under retaining beads onthe containers. A swage-on capper requires only vertical relativemovement between the closure skirt and a tool to deform the skirt intoaffixation with a container, and requires no rotation of the cappinghead during affixation of a closure. But a roll-on capper has, apartfrom need for relative movement, forming rollers that must be rotatedwith respect to the closure to form threads in the closure skirt (orotherwise deform the skirt) around its entire circumference. Anotherdifference between most roll-on cappers and swage-on cappers is thatspindles and rolling headsets on roll-on cappers are usually larger indiameter and must be spaced farther apart center to center than arespindles in most swage-on cappers.

Capping machines are known as described in U.S. Pat; No.. 3,470,667which can be quickly adapted to apply either of two or more forms ofswage-on closures such as crown and convenience type tear-off closures,but no capping machine has been known which can be quickly and easilychanged to apply either roll-on or swage-on closures. In order to altera capping line from the application of roll-on closures to theapplication of swage-on closures or vice versa, it has heretofore beennecessary either to remove the complete turret of the capping machinefor applying one kind of the closure and replace it with another turretfor applying the other kind of closure, or to have two completelyseparate machines through which the flow of bottles can be altemativelyrouted depending on which form of closures is to be applied. Theinterchange of turrets is time consuming and requires that the cappingline be shut down for several hours with a resultant loss in production,and the provision of two separate machines requires valuable floorspace, only half of which is used at a time. Accordingly, it isdesirable to provide a capping machine which can be quickly and easilychanged from the application of roll-on closures to the application ofswage-on closures and vice versa.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a capping turret whichis adapted to receive and operate either roll-on or swageon spindles,either of which spindles can be quickly and easily removed and replacedby the other form of spindles.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a capper which isadapted to receive and operate either roll-on or swage-on'cappingspindles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a turret for a cappingmachine which has outwardly open vertical slots around its perimeter forreceiving either rollon or swage-on spindles, and which has a first cammeans for vertically reciprocating either form of spindle, a second cammeans for moving rollers of headsets on roll-on spindles against aclosure skirt and drive means for rotating the headsets on roll-onspindles, wherein the drive means is in non-obstructing position withrespect to swage-on spindles when they are positioned in the turret.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of quickly andeasily changing a capper from the application of swage-on closures tothe application of roll-on closures and vice versa.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects andadvantages of the invention will be more fully understood andappreciated with reference to the following description and the FIG. 5is a perspective'view of a headset for a roll-on spindle;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the spindle of FIGS. 3 and4, taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 4, and illustrating securement of thespindle in the turret;

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view through the turret taken alongline VIIVII of FIG. 3 illustrating drive means for operating roll-onspindles in the turret, along with two roll-on spindles and two swage-onspindles;

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 3 illustratinga swage-on spindle in one of the turret slots;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 6 exceptillustrating securement of a swage-on spindle in the turret;

FIG. 10 illustrates cam tracks in a turret of the invention laid out inplan to show the functioning of roll-on spindles and headsets in the camtracks; and

FIG. 11 is an illustration similar to FIG. 10 showing swage-on spindlesand their functioning.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a cappingmachine of the invention is. illustrated in the form of a turretassembly 10 which is adapted to be mounted on a conventional capper base1 l which supports and drives the turret for the application of closuresto containers. Turret assembly 10 may have spindles mounted in it forapplying roll-on closures, or alternatively may have spindles mounted init for applying swage-on closures. 'As used herein,

swage-on spindles means spindles with capping heads which include acollar, collet, crimping ring or the like which is moved axially tocrimp, swage, draw or otherwise constrict a portion of a closure toaffix it to a container. Roll-on spindle is used to mean a spindle witha spinning headset which rotates around a closure to deform it against acontainer. As is conventional, a capper base on which turret is to bemounted may have means associated therewith such as a star wheel, feedscrew or the like (not shown) for conveying containers to the turret foraffixation of closures to the containers, and similar means not shownfor moving sealed containers laterally away from the turret. A capperwill also usually include a cap feed system, not shown, for feedingclosures onto containers or into the capping heads for affixation tocontainers. A turret of the invention may be adapted to receive anynumber of spindles with capping heads, but for purposes of illustration,turret 10 will be described with positions for mounting 2O spindlestherein. Obviously, the greater the number of spindles, the greater thenumber of containers which can be capped per revolution of the turret.However, the greater the number of spindles, the larger the turret willbe. Accordingly, an appropriate number of spindles may be selecteddepending on the space available for the turret and desired cappingspeeds. It is noted that a turret of the invention can be operated withspindles mounted in less than all of the positions for receiving suchspindles, for example, in only every other spindle position.

Referring to FIG. 2, the major components ofa turret assembly areillustrated as comprising a center support column 14, a turret hub 15, aturret frame 16 with a plurality of outwardly open vertical slots aroundits circumference, a lower cam 18, a bull gear 20, three planetary gears22, a ring gear 24, a planetary gear support 25, a turret support sleeve26, an upper cam 28, an upper cam support 30 and a nut 31. Also-shownare a roll-on spindle l2 and a swage-on spindle 13, a complete set ofone or the other of which may be disposed in the vertical slots inturret frame 16 with a gib plate 32 secured over each such spindle.

It is a feature of the invention that turret frame 16 comprises aplurality of vertical bars which are joined at their ends by circulardiscs with vertical slots between the bars for receiving either roll-onor swage-on closure-affixing spindles therein. A drive means is providedin the turret which rotates headsets on roll-on spindles and which isparticularly designed so that it can remain in the turret when swage-onspindles 13 are mounted in the turret slots and will not interfere withsuch swage-on spindles. It is another feature of the machine that acommon cam track effects the vertical movement of either roll-onspindles or swage-on spindles, depending on which set of spindles ismounted in the turret. However, as will be explained, a section of theupper cam track may be interchangeable depending on which set ofspindles is mounted. in the turret. With a turret of the invention, afull set or complement of both roll-on and swage-on spindles willusually be provided, but only one set will be mounted in the turret atany one time. The other set of spindles will be stored until it isdesired to change the capping capability of the turret. When such changeis desired, gib plates 32 can be removed from the turret to permit easyremoval of the spindles which are mounted in the turret, and the otherset of spindles can be positioned in the turret slots and the gib platessecured thereover. When this has been done the closure feed system ischanged to supply an alternative type of closure, and turret 10 is readyto perform its alternative capping capability. Such change of cappingcapability can be effected in approximately 4 hours which means only asmall loss in production.

Turning to FIG. 3, a turret assembly 10 is illustrated with a roll-onspindle 12 mounted in one of the vertical slots. Turret assembly 10 ismounted on a capper base 11 which includes a support sleeve 36 and adrive sleeve 38 for rotating turret frame 16 with roll-on spindles 12therein during capping. Center support column 14 of the turret assemblyextends through the support sleeve 36 and is fixedly secured andpositioned in the support sleeve by means not shown. The capper base mayalso include means, not shown, for adjusting the height of the turretassembly to accommodate various container heights. A turret supportsleeve 26 and an upper support 30 are secured on the upper end of centersupport column 14 by means of a nut 31 or the like, and are secured tothe column by means of a key or other locking means not shown. Lower cam18 is secured to turret support sleeve 26, and upper cam 28 is securedto upper support 30. Since the turret support sleeve, upper support andtwo cams are secured to center support column 14 which does not rotate,these parts also do not rotate. Turret hub 15, turret frame 16 withspindles mounted therein, and planetary gear support 25 are secured todrive sleeve 38 which does rotate. Accordingly, when drive sleeve 38 isdriven, support 25, turret hub 15, turret frame 16 and the spindlestherein are rotated around center support column 14 and rotated withrespect to stationary cams 18 and 28 and cam tracks 19 and 29 in thecams.

A cross-section of roll-on spindle 12 mounted in one of the outwardlyopen slots in turret frame 16 is shown in FIG. 3. This spindle ismounted in the frame by means of gib plates, not shown, mounted overmarginal edges of the spindle which are disposed in guide ways in theframe as will be described. For purposes of illustration, a roll-onspindle has been selected which is adapted to apply closures 42 of awell-known kind to containers 44, wherein threads are formed in theclosure skirt and a bottom edge portion of a locking band on the closureis turned under a retaining bead on the container, as described in US.Pat. No. 3,303,955. However, other rotatable spindles, with or withoutthe capability of turning the edge of a locking band, may be mounted ina turret of the invention. Such rotatable spindles may even includespindles for applying screwon closures which are rotated with respect tocontainers during application.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, roll-on spindle 12 comprises a support yoke46 resiliently mounted on a shaft 48 by means of a coil spring 50 and ahousing 56, with a cam follower 52 secured to the top of the yoke. Camfollower 52 is disposed in cam track 29 in cam member 28 and follows theup and down path of the track to move yoke 46 up and down as spindle 12is rotated around the turret and the stationary cam track (FIG. 10). Camfollower 52 may include two rollers, one of which contacts only the topface of track 28 and the other of which contacts only the bottom face ofthe track. With two such rollers, both rollers always maintain theirsame direction of rotation during rotation of turret 10 and spindles 12.This produces less wear on the cam follower than is created in a camfollower which has only one roller which contacts the top of the trackduring part of its travel and the bottom of the track during part of itstravel and which must reverse its direction of rotation when moving fromcontact with one surface to contact with the other.

In the body of spindle l2 coil spring 50 is supported on a housing 56which is rigidly attached to shaft 48. A nut 49 is threaded on the endof housing 56 to secure yoke 46 thereon, and a nut 51 is threaded on theend of the shaft 48 so that the vertical movement of the yokeresiliently acts on the shaft with compression of the spring moving theupper end of the shaft upward through an open center of the yoke. Thebottom end of pressure shaft 48 has a pressure block 53 mounted on itand may include a small plunger 54 resiliently mounted in shaft 48 bymeans ofa spring 57 for holding a closure 42 on a container 44. Pressureblock 53 may also include a closure stripper or knock-out which is notshown.

Spindle 12 further includes a drive sleeve 58 with driven gear 59secured thereto mounted on head pressure shaft 48 below housing 56 sothat the collar and gear can freely rotate on shaft 48, and a slide 62over drive sleeve 58 with a cam follower 64 attached to the upper end ofthe slide and a tapered cone 69 attached to its lower end. Duringcapping, gear 59 is continually rotated by drive means which will bedescribed, which in turn rotates drive sleeve 58 and spinning headsets60 which are attached to the sleeve.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, headset 60 selected for illustration essentiallycomprises a head body 61 fixedly attached to sleeve 58, at least onethread roller 63, at least one band roller 65, pivot shafts 66 throughthe head body for each roller 63 and 65, cam rollers 67 for each roller63 and 65, cam follower arms 68 mounted resiliently on pivot shafts 66through springs 79, spinning roller arms 71 mounted on each pivot shaft,and torsion springs 91 for holding the cam rollers on upper cam followerarms 68 against the outer surface of cone 69. Rollers 63, 65 and 67 areall mounted in holes in pivot arms 68 and 71 and are free to rotate whenin contact with a non-rotating surface such as the surface of a closureskirt or the outer surface of cone 69 about which headset 60 rotates. Aheadset for applying closures with locking bands preferably includes twoeach of the thread and band-rollers 63 and 65 along with the requiredpivot arms, pivot shafts and cam rollers for each such roller, althoughthis is not essential to the invention. For example, a headset forapplying closures which do not have locking bands will require no bandrollers. Headsets 60 may also include springs 83 on each roller 63 and65 for resiliently mounting these rollers to accommodate smallvariations in the vertical height of the finish on a container 44, andto allow roller 63 to follow the thread helix on the container.

As stated above, cam rollers 67 roll on the outer surface of taperedcone 69. This cone is attached to slide 62 which is verticallyreciprocated according to the movement of cam follower 64 in cam track19 (FIG. This vertical movement of slide 62 and cone 69 cam rollers 67in and out with respect to the axis of spindle l2 and this pivotsrollers 63 and 65 in and out on the spindle by means of pivot arms 68and 71 and pivot shaft 66. Accordingly, as spindles 12 are rotatedaround turret l0, thread and band rollers 63 and 65 are pivoted in andout against the skirt of closure 42 on container 44 and rotated aroundthe closure to roll threads in the closure skirt and turn a lower edgeof a locking band on the closure around its entire circumference as willbe described.

To secure spindles 12 in turret frame 16 wherein the spindles will befree to move vertically as described above, ways 75 are provided in theedges of the vertical bars in the turret frame (FIGS. 4 and 6) andribs77 on the marginal edges of yoke 46 and lower cam slide 62, notshown, are disposed in the ways and retained therein by means of gibplates 32 which are bolted to the turret frame. The guide grooves formedby the ways 75 in the bars of turret frame 16 and gib plates 32, andribs 77 on the marginal edges of yoke 46 and cam slide 62 aredimensioned so that the ribs have a slight clearance with respect to thegrooves to permit the ribs to slide freely in the grooves. Grease orother lubrication may be provided between the grooves and ribs tofacilitate this relative motion.

Referring to FIG. 7 in conjunction with FIG. 3, a drive means for thecapper is illustrated which will rotate headsets on roll-on spindles 12in a clockwise direction on the axes of the spindles as the spindles arerotated in a counter-clockwise direction around the axis of the turret.The direction of rotation of the turret on its axis is not important tothe capping operation, but it is desirable to rotate headsets in aclockwise direction in order to form right hand threads in closures 42during their affixation to containers 44. Turret 10 could rotate in aclockwise direction instead of counter-clockwise as shown, and otherknown arrangements could be provided for rotating headsets60 in thedesired clockwise direction.

In the drive means selected ffor illustration, bull gear 20 is securedto main support frame 26 and is stationary as is the main support frame.Planetary gears 22, however, are carried by gear support 25 (FIG. 3)which rotates with turret frame 16. Consequently, gears 22 rotate aroundthe bull gear 20 in the same counterclockwise direction as does turretframe 16. This counter-clockwise rotation of planetary gears 22 aroundthe axis of the turret causes gears 22 to rotate in a counterclockwisedirection on their own axes, and ring gear 24 to rotate in acounter-clockwise direction about the axis of the turret assembly. Thecounter-cockwise rotation of ring gear 24 in turn rotates driven gear 59and headset 60 clockwise about the axes of the individual spindles asthe spindles are rotated around the capper axis. Gears 20, 22, 24 and 59are all selected with an appropriate gear pitch and gear diameters sothat a headset 60 will be rotated a sufficient number of rotations aboutthe axis of the spindle on which it is mounted in each revolution of theturret 12 on its axis in order to ensure that the complete circumferenceof a closure skirt will be deformed against a containers finish duringthe rolling operation as will be explained. It is noted that thevertical bars in turret frame 16 may have notches cut in it at thevertical location of gears 59 as shown in this FIG. 6 to provide spacefor the gears, but this depends on the size of the gears and the spaceprovided between the bars in the turret frame, and is not critical tothe invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, a turret assembly 10 is illustrated with a swage-onspindle 13 in one of the vertical slots in turret frame 16. Turretassembly 10 illustrated here has not been changed from that illustratedin FIG. 3 and described above except that a section of the upper camtrack has been removed and replaced with another section (FIG. 11), andswage-on spindles 13 have replaced roll-on spindles in the turret. Aswill be described, a section of upper cam track 29 has been replaced sothat head pressure will be applied against swage-on closures andcontainers for only a short period of time. Spindle 13 may include ayoke 70 similar to the yoke on a roll-on spindle 12. Yoke 70 is mountedon spindle body 72 and has a cam follower 76 attached to its top whichis disposed in upper cam track 29 in cam 28 for following the path ofthe cam track as the spindle is rotated around the capper. A cappinghead for applying a swage-on closure 80 to a container 82 is mounted onthe bottom end of spindle 13, and may be any of a variety of well knownheads. Capping head 78 selected for illustration includes a headpressure shaft 86 resiliently mounted in the spindle by means of spring88, a crimping collar 90 and a semi-circular closure guide member 84. Aclosure 80 is preferably fed into the space between head pressure shaft86 and guide member 84 for affixation to container 82 upon the downwardstroke of spindle 13.

As shown in FIG. 9, yoke 70 and the spindle body (not shown) on swage-onspindle 13 have opposed mounting ribs 81 for slidably mounting spindle13 in the ways in the vertical bars of turret casting 16 in a mannersimilar to that illustrated in FIG. wherein rollon spindles 12 aremounted in turret frame 16. The same gib plates 32 can be used to effectthis securement of swage-on spindles 13 in the turret as were used tosecure roll-0n spindles 12 in the turret. With this securement means,roll-on or swage-on spindles, as the case may be, can be easily removedand replaced by the other form of spindles. Referring to FIG. 7, it isnoted that spindle body 72 does not interfere with ring gear 24 in theturret assembly when swage-on spindles 13 are mounted in the turret.Although both roll-on spindles 12 and swage-on spindles 13 are shown inthe turret assembly of FIG. 7, this is done only for purposes ofillustration. Both types of spindles would not be mounted in a turret atthe same time during the operation of a capping machine.

In operation of a capping machine of the invention, turret frame 16 mayhave either a set of roll-on spindles or a set of swage-on spindlesmounted in the vertical slots in the turret with gib plates securedthereover for application of either kind of closures to containers. If,for example, roll-on spindles are mounted in the turret, the cappingmachine can be operated to affix closures to containers with a threadedfinish thereon as illustrated in FIG. 10. This FIG. shows circular camtracks 19 and 29 with the two tracks parallel except that a section oflower track 19 is offset further from upper cam track 29 than is theremainder of the track. Two steps in the lower cam track provide thisoffset. When roll-on spindles 12 are rotated around the stationary camtracks, tracks 19 and 29 first cam the entire spindle downward fromposition No. l to position No. 2. This applies top pressure againstclosure 42 on container 44 to produce a top seal on the container. Afterthe top seal is effected, lower cam track 19 moves cam follower 64 andslide 62 downward to move rollers 63 and 65 against the skirt of closure42 by camming rollers 67 outwardly on the tapered cone 69 on the slide.Inasmuch as headset 60 is being continually rotated in a clockwisedirection by a drive means described above, the pressure of rollers 63and 65 against the closure skirt deforms the skirt against thecontainers finish around the entire circumference of closure 42 to affixthe closure to container 44 as the closure and container are moved fromposition No. 3 to position No. 4.

After closure 42 has been affixed to container 44, lower cam track 19moves slide 62 upward to permit rollers 63 and 65 to be pulled outwardby mechanical springs 91 (FIG. 5) and away from the closure skirt(position No. 5). As spindle 12 moves from position No. 5 to positionNo. 6, the entire spindle is raised off the sealed container by both camtracks acting simultaneously on the cams and the spindle. All ofspindles 12 on a turret are moved around the turret in the path shown inFIG. 10, and each spindle applies a closure to a contianer during eachrevolution of the turret. Accordingly, with 20 spindles, 20 containerscan be closed during each such revolution of the turret.

With roll-on capping machines which have been previously known, themachines have not had the capability of being quickly adapted to applyswage-on closures. To change a line from roll-on to swage-on closures,either the entire capper turret assembly had to be removed from afilling line and replaced with a turret to affix swage-on closures orthe bottle path had to be changed to route bottles through a crownerinstead of a capper. The present invention has simplified this by makingthe turret adaptable to receive either roll-on or swage-on spindles. Tochange the capping capability of the machine, it is a simple matter toremove the four bolts in each gib plate 32 for removal of the gibplates. With the gib plates 32 removed, roll-on spindles 12 can beremoved from the open ways, and a section of the upper cam 28 can bechanged if desired. Swage-on spindles 13 can then be positioned in theways in place of the roll-on spindles, the gib plates 32 again boltedinto position over the swage-on spindles, the cap feed system switchedand the machine is ready to run.

Referring to FIG. 8, all the drive gears remain in the turret assemblywhen swage-on spindles 13 are mounted in the turret, but the gears donot contact or interfere with the swage-on spindles (FIG. 7). Further,the turret is designed so that swage-on spindles 13 can use the sameupper cam track 29 as do roll-on spindles. but a section of the uppercam can be removed and replaced so that the swage-on spindle will beraised off closure on container 82 within a few degrees of rotationafter it has moved down to apply the closure. Cam follower 76 on theswage-on spindles is positioned in upper cam track 29 and follows thesame path as cam follower 52 on roll-on spindles 12 except for thereplaced section of the track. Lower cam 18 remains in the turretassembly when swage-on spindles 13 are mounted in the turret, but thiscam is inoperative and does not interfere with the swage-on spindles.The reason that a section of upper cam track may be replaced by anothersection is to minimize the load on the turret and minimize the timeperiod during which container 82 will be subjected to the top pressureof the pressure head against closure 80. There is no need for swage-onspindle 13 to dwell in a down position, whereas a rollon spindlerequires an extended down dwell in order to roll threads in a closureskirt. Accordingly, the upper cam track can be temporarily modified bychanging a short section of cam 28. This can be done by removing asection 92 (FIG. 10) of upper cam 28 between positions No. 2 and No. 4and replacing it with a section 94 (FIG. 11) which will add a short downstroke to the spindle travel between these positions. Since upper camtrack 28 is exposed outwardly, it is a simple matter to make this changewith little time loss. The upper cam 28 can be partially cut out toreceive either section which can be in the form of either a single pieceor upper and lower sectors which may be bolted or otherwise secured inthe cut out portion of the cam. This interchange of a section of uppercam 28 is not essential to the invention although it is preferred.

To apply swage-on or crown closures 80 to containers 82, a turretassembly is rotated in the same manner as it is rotated for applyingroll-on closures. This moves spindles 13 with respect to the stationarycam tracks as illustrated in FIG. 11 but does not rotate the heads onthe spindles as is done with spinning headsets on roll-on spindles. Camtrack 29 moves spindle 13 down to apply a crown closure 80 on acontainer 82 which has a locking bead on its entrance mouth. Referringto FIG. 8, shaft 86 applies a top pressure against the top of the crownclosure 80 during the downward travel of spindle 13 to compress spring88, and collar 90 moves downward against the closure skirt to crimp thefluted skirt of a crown closure under a bead on the container finish andthereby lock the closure on the container. A stripper, not shown, mayalso be provided on such a head for stripping a closure from the head onthe upward stroke of spindle 13.

Referring again to FIG. 11, position No. 2 shows spindle 13 uponcompletion of the initial down stroke which would be the full downposition for a roll-on spindle 12. Spindle 13 is then lowered to itsfull down position No. 3 by the special cam insert and a closure 80 isswaged on container 82. Cam follower 76 then raises spindle 13 betweenpositions No. 3 and No. 4 and between positions No. 5 and No. 6, and thespindle remains in the raised position for the remainder of the rotationof the turret. If upper cam track 29 had not been changed but remainedas shown in FIG. 8 there would be no change between positions No. 2 andNo. 5. The turret assembly 10 would be lowered so that spindle 12 wouldbe held against the closure on the container as spindle 13 moved aroundthe turret between positions No. 2 and No. 5 with no effect on theclosure between these positions. However, this would put the load ofseveral spindles, as compressed downward against closures on containers,and might break the containers and would cause more load on the turret.Accordingly, a section of cam track 29 is preferably replaced to reduceduration of the load on each container. Lower cam track 19 is shown inFIG. 9, but is not connected to spindle 13 and has no effect on it. Whenspindle 13 is raised by cam 76 to position No. 4, spring 88 (FIG. 8)moves head pressure shaft 86 downward through collar 90 to strip thecollar from closure 80 on container 82 to free the sealed container sothat it can be moved out from under the spindle. As with roll-onspindles, each swage-on spindle 13 applies a closure during eachrevolution of the turret.

To change turret assembly 10 from the application of swage-on closure tothe application of roll-on closures, the reverse process of thatdescribed above is followed. Gib plates 32 are removed, swage-onspindles 13 are removed outward from the slots in the turret, a sectorof cam 28 is temporarily modified as described above, roll-on spindles12 are put into the slots, gib plates 32 are bolted on over the roll-onspindles, the cap feed is changed and the turret assembly is again readyto apply roll-on closure to containers.

It is therefore seen that a novel turret assembly has been illustratedand described and a method provided for changing such turret assemblyfrom the application of roll-on closures to the application of swage-onclosures and vice versa. Although particular spindles have been selectedfor illustration, any of a variety of known spindles for applying eitherform of closure, or even screw-on closures, can be mounted in a machineof the invention. Moreover, it will be obvious to oneskilled in thecapping art that many details of the machine can be changed withoutdeparting from the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for applying closures which includes a rotatable turretwith a plurality of outwardly open vertical slots around itscircumference for receiving closure-applying spindles therein, upper cammeans for -moving spindles vertically in the slots, lower cam sets onsuch spindles.

1. In a machine for applying closures which includes a rotatable turretwith a plurality of outwardly open vertical slots around itscircumference for receiving closure-applying spindles therein, upper cammeans for moving spindles vertically in the slots, lower cam means formoving, when present, rollers of headsets on roll-on spindles radiallyinward with respect to the axes of the spindles and gear means forspinning such headsets when present, the improvement comprising saidgear means including a stationary bull gear on the axis of the turret,at least one planetary gear in engagement with said bull gear andsecured to the turret for rotation with the turret, and a freelyrotatable ring gear in engagement with the planetary gear and adapted toengage gears on roll-on spindles to rotate spinning headsets on suchspindles.